Brazil attorney general turns to high court on Rousseff accounts

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's attorney general turned to the Supreme Court on Tuesday in another bid to prevent a ruling on embattled President Dilma Rousseff's accounts that could pave the way to an impeachment hearing.

Attorney General Luis Inacio Adams asked for an injunction that would require the Federal Accounts Court, or TCU, to delay a vote, slated for Wednesday, on the accounts until it rules on his request to remove the judge overseeing the case.

Adams says Judge Augusto Nardes erred in making his position on the government's delayed repayments to state-run banks public ahead of the vote. He says it is against the law for a magistrate to make his or her opinion public before a ruling and filed a request to remove Nardes with the TCU on Monday.

Delaying repayments to state-run banks helped Rousseff continue funding social programs while improving the nation's fiscal accounts in her first term, ahead of her narrow win in last year's presidential election.

Nardes recommended the seven other TCU judges reject Rousseff's accounts because of the practice, two court officials briefed on the matter told Reuters on Friday, and his position appeared in several local media outlets.

Although not legally binding, a TCU ruling to reject the accounts would give the opposition ammunition to seek Rousseff's impeachment. The leftist leader has been weakened by the worst economic crisis in three decades and her popular approval as well as her congressional support have eroded.